Minnesota Paid Family and Medical Leave program
Minnesota enacted a state-administered paid family and medical leave insurance program under Minnesota Statutes Chapter 268B. The program provides eligible employees up to 12 weeks of paid medical leave per year for their own serious health condition (including pregnancy), up to 12 weeks of paid family leave for bonding, caregiving, military exigency, or safety reasons, with a combined maximum of 20 weeks in a benefit year. Benefits became available January 1, 2026, and are funded by a payroll premium shared between employers and employees. The program is administered by the Family and Medical Benefits Insurance Division within the Department of Employment and Economic Development.
Source: Minn. Stat. § 268B.01 et seq.
Earned sick and safe time — accrual and use requirements
Minnesota requires employers to provide earned sick and safe time (ESST) to employees anticipated to work at least 80 hours per year in the state. Employees accrue one hour of ESST for every 30 hours worked, up to a maximum of 48 hours of ESST in a year unless the employer agrees to a higher amount. Accrual begins at the commencement of employment, and employees may use ESST as it is accrued. Employers must permit carryover of unused ESST into the following year; the total amount of accrued but unused ESST may not exceed 80 hours at any time unless the employer agrees to a higher amount. The law became effective January 1, 2024.
Source: Minn. Stat. § 181.9446
Earned sick and safe time — permitted uses
Minnesota law specifies six categories of permitted uses for earned sick and safe time (ESST) under Minn. Stat. § 181.9447, subdivision 1. Employees may use accrued ESST for any of these qualifying reasons without employer discretion to deny the request based on the category of use.
Own health and bereavement needs
Employees may use ESST for (1) their own mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; (2) medical diagnosis, care, or treatment; (3) preventive medical or health care; or (4) to make arrangements for or attend funeral services or a memorial, or address financial or legal matters that arise after the death of a family member. The bereavement use was added by 2024 amendments and applies to deaths occurring on or after January 1, 2024.
Family member care
Employees may use ESST to care for a family member (1) with a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; (2) who needs medical diagnosis, care, or treatment; or (3) who needs preventive medical or health care. "Family member" is defined broadly under Minn. Stat. § 181.9445, subd. 7, and includes not only biological and legal relatives (parent, child, spouse, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, stepparents, stepchildren) but also any individual the employee is responsible for providing care to, and one individual designated annually by the employee.
Safety leave — domestic abuse, sexual assault, stalking
ESST may be used for absences due to domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking of the employee or the employee's family member, provided the absence is to: (1) seek medical attention related to physical or psychological injury or disability caused by such violence; (2) obtain services from a victim services organization; (3) obtain psychological or other counseling; (4) seek relocation or take steps to secure an existing home; or (5) seek legal advice or participate in legal proceedings.
Closure due to weather or public emergency
Employees may use ESST when (1) the employee's place of business is closed by order of a public official due to a public emergency, or (2) the employee needs to care for a family member whose school or place of care has been closed by order of a public official due to a public emergency. Under Minn. Stat. § 181.9447, subd. 1(c), a "public emergency" includes a declared emergency as defined in Minn. Stat. § 12.03 or a declared local emergency under Minn. Stat. § 12.29.
Limited exception for essential workers during emergencies
Notwithstanding the general right to use ESST for weather or public-emergency closures, certain essential workers may not use ESST under those conditions if their preassigned duties require them to respond to the emergency. This exception applies only to firefighters, peace officers subject to licensure under Minn. Stat. §§ 626.84 to 626.863, 911 telecommunicators, correctional facility guards, and public employees holding a commercial driver's license, and only when specific collective bargaining or policy conditions are met under Minn. Stat. § 181.9447, subd. 1(c).
Communicable disease
Employees may use ESST when determined by a health authority or health care professional that the employee or the employee's family member is at risk of infecting others with a communicable disease, even if the individual does not have symptoms requiring medical care.
Employers may not limit ESST use to a subset of these categories or impose additional conditions beyond those specified in the statute. Any employer policy that purports to restrict ESST use more narrowly than Minn. Stat. § 181.9447, subd. 1, is unenforceable.
Source: Minn. Stat. § 181.9447